The ambulance arrived soon.
Quite a few people came out to see what was happening.
The doctors lifted Qin Buran into the ambulance.
Only then did Tao Zhiyan learn that Qin Buran had taken a slow-acting poison. Chloride poisoning had sent him into shock.
Mr. Pei stood outside the emergency room and explained what had happened to the doctor.
Then, in less than half an hour, Qin Buran was wheeled out of the emergency room and taken to the morgue.
Everything had happened too fast.
Someone who had been alive just moments ago was now gone.
The doctors and nurses sighed and dispersed.
Only Mr. Pei remained, sitting on a bench in the hospital corridor with his head bowed, saying nothing.
He held a photo of himself and Qin Buran, staring blankly at it.
Tao Zhiyan hesitated for a long while, then walked over and sat beside him.
Mr. Pei's breathing was slow, his eyes utterly lifeless. He looked exhausted.
"...Are you okay?" Tao Zhiyan offered him a cup of water. "Would you like some water?"
Mr. Pei didn't move.
"..." Tao Zhiyan silently withdrew the cup. He lowered his eyes and pressed his lips together before asking, "...Did you know Mr. Qin had taken poison?"
Mr. Pei kept his head bowed, brushing his thumb over Qin Buran's face in the photograph as he sat limply on the bench.
Finally, he murmured, "Yes."
"..." Tao Zhiyan turned to look at him. "Why didn't you stop him?"
Why?
Mr. Pei's eyes were bloodshot.
How could he not have tried?
He had tried countless times.
But what good had it done?
How could he hold on to someone who wanted to die?
"...Buran had depression," Mr. Pei said, his voice trembling the moment he spoke. "Recently, it developed into bipolar disorder."
Bipolar